Management turnover, ownership change, and post-bankruptcy failure of small businesses

We provide the first analysis of management turnover and ownership change as determinants of post-bankruptcy failure of small businesses. Examining micro-level data on Slovenian firms that attempted bankruptcy reorganization and utilizing multiple empirical approaches, we find that changes prior to completed reorganization proceedings never reduce, and in the case of foreign incoming owners or insider incoming managers in fact increase, prospects of firm liquidation. Firm liquidation prospects robustly decrease only with changes that occur after completed proceedings, involve ownership transfer, and feature domestic incoming owners. These results continue to hold under an alternative conceptualization of firm failure. Our findings are consistent with the importance of disruption costs in the process of turning around ailing small businesses. Our analysis casts novel light on the ongoing debate about the consequences of debtor-in-possession rule in bankruptcy and the relevance of successor origin in management turnover and ownership change for firm outcomes.